Worldwide solid waste production is increasing at an alarming rate. Solid waste ranges in size, shape and material. Non-limiting examples of high volume solid wastes include:                1. household garbage and trash (Municipal Solid Waste);        2. drill cuttings produced during the drilling of an oil or gas well;        3. wastewater treatment plant sludge;        4. medical waste;        5. unburned carbon on fly ash and coal fines;        6. red mud which is the remaining bauxite waste from alumina production;        7. obsolete computers and electronic equipment (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment);        8. saw dust and wood chips;        9. bagasse from sugar mills;        10. rice straw;        11. animal manure;        12. radioactive hazardous wastes produced from manufacturing nuclear material for nuclear, power plants and nuclear weapons.        
Worldwide gaseous waste emissions are also increasing at an alarming rate. Worldwide natural gas production in 1998 exceeded 101,891 billion cubic feet (bcf). However, over 3.7% or 3,724 bcf of the produced gas was flared or vented worldwide. The vented or flared gas is a wasted and untapped source of energy. The United States' Greenhouse Gas (GHG) releases for natural gas flared in 1998 was about 3.9 million metric tons of carbon equivalents (MMTCE).
Also, total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions rose in 1998 to 1,834.6 MMTCE, which is 11.2% above the 1990 baseline of 1,649.7 MMTCE. CO2 from fossil fuel combustion, which is the largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, accounted for 80% of weighted emissions in 1998. Emissions from this source grew by 11% (148.1 MMTCE) from 1990 to 1998 and were also responsible for over 80% of the increase in national emissions during this period.
The most common greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides and ozone depleting substances. In 1998, methane emissions resulted primarily from the decomposition of wastes in landfills, manure and enteric fermentation associated with domestic livestock, natural gas systems, and coal mining. Emissions of N2O were dominated by agricultural soil management and mobile source fossil fuel combustion.
Particulate matter is another gaseous emission that can be considered a solid waste. Particulate matter is emitted from coal burning power plants, diesel engines, incinerators and the burning of biomass, such as rice straw, wood, bagasse and charcoal. Particulate matter is of concern because very small particles may not be able to be filtered out by the respiratory system of a mammal.
Municipal Solid Waste
Municipal solid waste (MSW), more commonly known as trash or garbage, consists of everyday items such as product packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, appliances, paint, and batteries. In 1996, U.S. residents, businesses, and institutions produced more than 209 million tons of MSW, which is approximately 4.3 pounds of waste per person per day, up from 2.7 pounds per person per day in 1960. However, the number of landfills in the U.S. dropped from almost 8,000 in 1988 to about 2,314 in 1998.
Twenty-seven percent (27%) of MSW was recovered and recycled or composted, 17% was burned at combustion facilities, and the remaining 55% was disposed of in landfills. It is projected that by the year 2005 the U.S. will produce almost 240 million tons of MSW, with paper and paperboard to the dominant material.
Although 17% of the MSW was incinerated in 1996, it is highly unlikely that incineration will be the technology of choice for alleviating landfill disposal. For example, in November 2000, the U.S. EPA released its final ruling regarding incineration of medical waste. It is believed that due to the new regulations regarding the formation and subsequent release of dioxins from medical waste incinerators, more than 80% of the medical waste incinerators will be decommissioned within the U.S. Likewise, since MSW contains precursor chlorine molecules, regulations regarding incineration emissions from landfills may follow in step with medical waste incinerator emission regulations.
It is evident that an urgent need exists to eliminate or reduce the amount of MSW disposed of in landfills in addition to reclaiming the waste within the landfill. Also, many industrial and municipality wastewater treatment plants will dispose sludge in landfills for a nominal charge more commonly referred to as a “tipping fee.” It would be extremely beneficial to both society and to industrial plants or municipalities if this sludge could be recovered onsite as energy in lieu of transporting it to a landfill for final deposition into the ground. A technology that would allow a plant to achieve substantially zero discharge of solid wastes would be highly beneficial.
Oil and Gas Well Drill Cuttings
Another industry, which can benefit from a process or apparatus which could achieve substantially zero discharge for wastes, is the oil and gas industry. When an oil or gas well is drilled, the material that is left over from the “hole in the ground” is referred to as drill cuttings. Typically, for every foot drilled about 1.2 barrels of drill cuttings are produced per well. The disposal of the separated shale and cuttings is a complex environmental problem. Drill cuttings contain not only the mud product that can contaminate the environment, but also typically contain oil that is particularly hazardous to the environment, especially when drilling in a marine environment.
For example, in the Gulf of Mexico, there are hundreds of drilling platforms that drill for oil and gas by drilling into the sub-sea floor. These drilling platforms can be in many hundreds of feet of water. In such a marine environment, the water is typically crystal clear and filled with marine life that cannot tolerate the disposal of drill cuttings. Therefore, there is a need for a simple, yet workable solution to the problem of disposing of oil and gas well cuttings in an offshore marine environment as well as in other fragile environments where oil and gas well drilling occurs.
Traditional methods of cuttings disposal from an offshore rig usually involves the following procedures and associated costs:                1. Drill cuttings are conveyed from shale shaker to cutting boxes (cutting box rental);        2. Drill cuttings are conveyed to supply boat tank and transported to dock facility (supply boat used to transfer cuttings to dock);        3. Drill cuttings are removed from tanks by emulsifying with water or via bucket brigade (dockside cleaning of tanks; tank cleaning crew=$165/hour);        4. Drill cuttings and water are transferred to an injection well facility; and        5. Drill cuttings are injected down-hole at an injection well facility for final disposal ($8/barrel).Thus, drill cuttings disposal cost has been estimated to be between $20 and $30 per barrel.        
Unburned Carbon on Fly Ash and Coal Fines
Another solid waste produced in very large tonnages can be found in the coal industry. Coal burning power plants that have low NOx burners produce a fly ash that has a relatively high loss on ignition (LOI) carbon content. Fly ash having an unburned carbon content greater than about 6% usually cannot be used as a cement additive. In addition, washing coal produces coal fines that are traditionally disposed of in a pond. A simple one-step process that can treat fly ash and coal fines, or gasify coal without any pretreatment such as washing and grinding would help eliminate many problems associated with coal burning power plants.
The U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Lab (NETL) has estimated that as much as 2 to 3 billion tons of coal fines lie in waste impoundments at mines and washing plants around the country. Each year, another 30 million tons of coal mined in the United States is discarded into these waste ponds.
Olefin Plants, Ethylene and Propylene
Unburned or unreacted carbon has plagued several other industries and/or processes, such as olefin plants in the petrochemical industry. Olefin plants usually have two main sections: a pyrolysis or cracking section, and a purification or distillation section. In the production of ethylene, ethane is cracked in the presence of steam to produce an ethylene rich feedstock that can then be fed to an ethylene oxide plant. A hydrogen end-user, such as a refinery or cyclohexane plant is typically located near an olefin plant. Normally, these plants are integrated into a complex petrochemical facility.
The petrochemical industry, as well as the refining industry, has been plagued with Volatile Organic Carbon (VOC) emission releases, as well as solid waste release problems. Owing to the global warming issue, solutions are being sought for mitigating point source carbon dioxide releases.
A technology that could remove, or decompose of, ethylene oxide in a carbon dioxide stream would be highly desirable to the olefins industry. Likewise, a simple one-step reactor and method that could utilize CO2 to treat solid wastes, or other releases in an olefin plant or refinery, would be highly desirable. For example, a simple, cost efficient and highly reliable process that could utilize contaminated CO2 emissions produced from a process, such as in the production of ethylene oxide (EO), in combination with eliminating flares from the same plant would also be extremely and desirable.
Flares
Flares are common in many petrochemical plants, refineries, oil and gas wells and production facilities, and small commercial chemical plants. Typically, a flare is employed in order to vent a material such as VOCs during plant upsets. For example, an ethylene oxide plant may send its feedstock stream, or a portion thereof, to a flare during temporary shutdowns or plant upsets. A flare is a gaseous waste source and is also a point source emission that is strictly regulated by the U.S. EPA as well as state and local environmental agencies.
In lieu of plant upsets or shutdowns, flares can be used for the burning of low quality gas that does not meet pipeline specifications. One such low quality gas is biogas that is produced from landfills and which is usually flared or vented. Biogas is typically comprised of methane and CO2 as well as trace amounts of water, sulfur compounds and chlorinated compounds. A valuable resource is being wasted by flaring such a gas with the end product being carbon dioxide, a green house gas, with the potential for releasing toxic emissions. A process that could eliminate flares, provide substantially zero discharge and produce a valuable chemical feedstock would be highly beneficial.
The U.S., as well as the rest of the world, are in need of a simple solution, such as that provided by the instant invention, for eliminating waste releases. Likewise, due to the rising costs of oil and gas, in addition to aging refineries and petrochemical plants coupled with a population increase, there exists an immediate need for the production of cleaner fuels and/or processes that do not require world-class size refineries and plants.
A relatively small, portable, modular and efficient industrial chemical reactor with a high throughput and yield would be desirable to the aforementioned applications and industries. Likewise, a small residential chemical reactor that could treat household garbage or yard trimmings onsite would dramatically reduce disposal of solid wastes into landfills. An example of the top four materials generated from households for 2000 and projected for 2005 respectively, are:
Millions of tons (% of total)Material20002005Paper & Paperboard87.7 (39.3%)94.7 (39.7%)Plastics23.4 (10.5%)26.7 (11.2%)Food Wastes22.5 (10.1%)23.5 (9.8%) Yard Trimmings  23 (10.3%) 23 (9.6%)The petrochemical and refining industries could benefit from a process that could easily convert MSW in one single reactor into syngas (CO and H2). Such a process, if available, would provide substantially zero emissions from a landfill, as well as eliminate future disposal into landfills while supplying a highly desirable and limited feedstock—hydrogen and carbon monoxide—to refineries via pipelines.
Refinery Coke
Many crude oil refineries produce coke, which is a solid at room temperature and is the bottom of the barrel, or the remaining carbon from the barrel of crude oil. As previously stated, refineries are in need of hydrogen. This is partially due to regulations requiring the production of reformulated gasoline. In addition, with the new low-sulfur diesel regulations on the horizon, vast amounts of hydrogen will be required for hydro-treating processes used in refineries to reduce the heteroatom content of fuel products. In combination with rising natural gas prices, refineries will look upon new processes that do not require the steam reforming of methane for the production of hydrogen. Such a process, or apparatus, must be capable of utilizing wastes found within a refinery, such as waste oil from the Oil and Water Separator, sludge from the wastewater treatment plant, and coke.
The apparatus must be capable of handling extremely high flow rates, as well as being portable and modular. Many oil and gas companies are finding it uneconomical to fund conventional process units utilizing steel and concrete. For example, many refineries are turning to over-the-fence (OTF) contracts for meeting their hydrogen requirements instead of building on-site hydrogen plants. Likewise, refineries are ever more willing to lease or rent rapidly deployable modular units that can be mobilized as and where needed. A rapidly deployable single-stage reactor that can convert refinery waste, such as coke, waste oil and sludge to a valuable chemical feedstock, such as syngas, would be extremely valuable to the oil and gas refining industry.
Sulfuric Acid Regeneration
The demand for high-octane/low-vapor-pressure gasoline blending components has increased dramatically within the past few years, primarily as a result of the 1990 U.S. EPA Clean Air Act Amendments. Hydrocarbon sulfuric acid alkylation is one of the most important refinery processes for producing gasoline-blending components having high octane/low-vapor-pressure. Alkylation converts lighter petroleum hydrocarbons into heavier hydrocarbons. A typical refinery will utilize sulfuric acid (H2SO4) as the catalyst in its' alkylation process. The sulfuric acid is used as a catalyst to transform propylene, butylene and/or isobutane into alkylation products, or alkylate. The downside of the alkylation process is that a “spent acid” product stream is produced that is typically comprised of greater than about 90 wt. % H2SO4, 5 wt. % water, 4 wt. % organics, and less than about 1 wt. % in solids.
Sulfuric acid is also used in reactions such as sulfonation and nitration, as well as for other uses such as drying, pickling etc. At the end of these processes, the sulfuric acid remains in a form that is unusable and that needs to be recovered or disposed. This sulfuric acid waste stream is commonly referred to as spent acid or spent sulfuric acid. The spent acid can be processed to recover usable sulfuric acid by a number of processes including the process of regeneration.
For example, a Sulfuric Acid Regeneration (“SAR”) plant can be used and typically comprises a furnace, a gas cleaning section, a converter, and an absorption unit. Sulfuric acid is decomposed into sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, water, and nitrogen in the furnace in the presence of a fueled combustion flame. This is generally referred to as the regeneration or “regen furnace”.
The gas cleaning section of the typical SAR plant eliminates particulates, residual SO3, metal contaminants, and most of the water from the regen furnace effluent. The converter is typically provided to react SO2 with oxygen from air to produce SO3, which can then be hydrated in the absorption tower to form sulfuric acid.
Spent sulfuric acid in a petroleum refinery is typically a large volume Toxic Release Inventory chemical that is strictly regulated for off-site transfer for regeneration or disposal. Thus, many refineries recycle the spent acid onsite. This process is more commonly referred to as “Spent Acid Regeneration” or SAR.
As previously mentioned, the SAR process comprises combusting spent acid with a fuel. Fuels are normally selected from streams commonly found in a refinery such as natural gas, to residual oil to hydrogen sulfide. The downside of the SAR combustion process is that the oxygen used for combustion must be fed to the furnace very precisely in order to achieve proper combustion while limiting the amount of air in the stream. Overfeeding air or oxygen increases the furnaces gas volume. As a result, equipment must be sized in order to compensate for a plant upset or overfeeding combustion air. Additionally, overfeeding air may affect conversion of SO2 to SO3 as well as absorption of SO3 in the absorbing tower.
The refining industry is in need of a process for regenerating spent acid that does not require combustion with a fuel and oxidant. Such a process would allow a SAR plant to be dramatically downsized owing to the elimination of combustion products, such as water and CO2, that represent a relatively large volume of the gaseous stream.
Spent (contaminated) sulfuric acid is generated in various other chemical production processes such as titanium dioxide production, methyl methacrylate production, and various nitration processes. Spent sulfuric acid from these processes has been disposed of, other than by SAR, by either deep well injection, or neutralization and discharge of the spent sulfuric acid into water ways, oceans or landfills.
Regeneration of spent sulfuric acid is two to three times as expensive as acid made directly made from sulfur. The disposal of spent sulfuric acid is an ever increasing problem because of environmental regulations that are becoming more and more stringent. At the same time, the demand for alkylates in unleaded gasoline is increasing, thus creating more spent sulfuric acid.
In an attempt to regenerate increasing amounts of spent sulfuric acid, oxygen enrichment of combustion air has been used to increase the capacity of a given regeneration facility. Use of oxygen enriched air permits more acid to be processed in an existing facility thereby improving the process economics to a certain degree. The combustion that is normally carried out with air, which contains 21% oxygen with the remainder being nitrogen, puts nitrogen into the process, which plays no useful role in the waste combustion but leads to heat losses in the stack and reacts with oxygen to produce nitrogen oxides (known as thermal NOx), which in turn leads to smog formation, ozone depletion in the atmosphere and acid rain.
The formation of thermal NOx is extremely temperature sensitive. By enriching the combustion air to approximately 28% oxygen, the number of oxygen molecules available for combustion can be increased by 25% without increasing the volume of combustion air or flue gas. Hence, the waste processing capacity of a furnace can be increased. However, this approach has not been widely adopted in the market place because oxygen enrichment leads to an increase in the furnace flame temperature, including localized hot spots. These hot spots have a detrimental effect on the materials of construction of the combustor and oxygen constitutes an additional cost of production that the regeneration facility has to incur. The extra cost for the oxygen is partially offset by the increased amount of acid processed in a given facility.
Claus Plant
Claus-type plants are in use in refineries to treat gases containing hydrogen sulfide. The typical Claus plant comprises at least one furnace, or “thermal reactor”, and multiple converters. Elemental sulfur is produced as well as a “tail gas” comprising residual unconverted hydrogen sulfide, other minor sulfur compounds, sulfur dioxide and inert gases. Some Claus plants may also comprise more than a single thermal reactor. Claus plant performance and capacity have been increased by the utilization of an oxygen-enriched air in the furnace. For example see EP 0237 216 A1 published Sep. 16, 1987, which discloses one such modified Claus process using oxygen-enriched air.
While faced with the need to expand capacity, refineries are often limited by both physical space and environmental restraints from expanding capacity of these process units, for example, by the addition of furnaces or converters.
Upgrading Crude at the Wellhead
Many crudes are of very low quality due to sulfur contamination. As previously stated, refineries will have to make dramatic and costly capital investments in order to process low quality crudes, such as those produced in Mexico and Venezuela. Also, additional expenditures will be required for increased hydro-treating capacity in order to produce low sulfur distillates. The U.S. EPA estimates the cost of reducing the sulfur content of diesel fuel will result in a fuel price increase of approximately 4.5 to 5 cents per gallon.
A simple and economical solution for the refining industry is to upgrade crude at the wellhead. This will result in a higher quality crude oil that will demand a relatively high price. Thus, both the refinery, as well as the public, will benefit since a refinery would not have to make major and costly modifications to their hydro-treating process units and pass the costs to consumers.
A process or apparatus, such as that of the instant invention, that can upgrade crude oil at the wellhead by converting casing-head gas to hydrogen, while reducing down-hole back pressure, thus increasing oil production from the well, would be highly desirable.
Animal Feed Operations
Another industry that produces a solid waste that has become a disposal problem is the agriculture industry. For example, animal feeding operations (AFO) produce large amounts of manure that runs off into local waterways creating a pollution problem. Phosphorous in the animal waste has been linked to causing hypoxia in receiving waters. Sludge from drinking water plants that contains lime and iron has been suggested as an additive to animal waste to chelate the phosphorous. Also, Red Mud from aluminum production facilities has been suggested as an alternative additive to animal waste. Transportation costs for hauling these additives to the farm, or the animal waste to the site where the additive is produced, is cost prohibitive.
Aluminum, Energy, Red Mud and Carbon Sequestration
On Apr. 11, 2001, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) began to implement a proposal to shutter the U.S. Northwest's ten aluminum smelters for up to two years. The BPA called on aluminum officials to close Northwest smelters to help hold down soaring energy prices in the Northwest and in California. Many smelters in the BPA region had already closed their doors because high energy prices made aluminum production unprofitable. The current plan would freeze the Northwest Aluminum Industry that is responsible for 38% of the U.S.'s aluminum production in smelters throughout Washington, Oregon and Montana. The ten smelters consume 1,500 megawatts of power, enough electricity to light all of Seattle. BPA can only produce 8,000 megawatts.
The production of aluminum starts with the mining of bauxite ore which is crushed and ground at the aluminum plant to the desired size for efficient extraction of alumina (Al2O3) through digestion with hot sodium hydroxide liquor. The hot sodium hydroxide extraction process is more commonly referred to as the “Bayer Process.” A portion of the liquor that is removed from the alumina in the Bayer process is referred to as “red mud.” After removal of “red mud” and fine solids from the process liquor, alumina is produced by precipitating aluminum trihydrate crystals and then calcining the crystals in a rotary kiln or fluidized bed calciner.
It is typical for one aluminum plant to produce more than 1,000,000 tons of red mud per year. The red mud is typically stockpiled on-site since, resulting in the accumulation of ever-increasing amounts of red mud at the plant site. Some work is being conducted to develop useful products from the red mud. One such product, Cajunite, is an absorbent for liquid wastes.
Red mud is typically comprised of about 50 wt. % water, and about 50 wt. % components that are not soluble in sodium hydroxide (by mass %: Al2O3 22-28%, Fe2O3 25-35%, SiO2 6-16%, TiO2 8-24%, Na2O (total) 4-9%, Na2O (soluble) 0.5-0.7%, CaO+ MgO 0.5-4%, LOI 7-12%). Between 0.7-2 tons of red mud are produced for every ton of alumina extracted, depending on the composition of the bauxite. The two basic methods of onsite disposal are “wet discharge” (dumping of the water mud in lakes) and “dry stacking” (landfill of the dried, thickened red mud).
In combination with rising energy costs and environmental issues, the aluminum industry is in great need of technologies for producing clean fuel or energy while simultaneously producing a useful byproduct from red mud.
Automobile Shredder Residue (Fluff) and Aluminum Recycling
Automobile shredder residue, or fluff, is the material remaining after recovering the metals from a shredded vehicle. Current recovery technologies includes shredding the vehicle, removing ferrous metal with a magnet, then separating the remaining metals by means of dense medium separation. Simply, the shredded material is placed in rotating drums filled with a liquid media. The media may be water or water that is weighted-up, similar to drilling mud. By changing the density of the liquid, some material will float while some material will sink.
The major problem with such a process is that the process requires copious amounts of water. Hence, since the vehicle contains organic fluids such as lubricants, antifreeze, motor oil and gasoline, an undesirable emulsion is formed with the water. Expensive water treatment chemicals are then utilized to break the emulsion as well as to prevent foaming and frothing which upsets the dense medium separation process. The remaining non-metallic portion of the vehicle is the fluff. Typically, fluff is comprised of light organics, heavy organics such as plastics, foam, and rubber. The fluff can be a valuable feedstock or fuel but typically ends up in a landfill.
Another problem associated with organic fluids forming emulsions in the dense medium separation process is that the metals may be covered or coated with organic fluids. This in itself presents a recycling problem. Although the price of the metals is not affected, the metals recycling facility must take precautions due to the potential for emissions of the organic fluids.
This problem is more common with aluminum ingot manufacturing from aluminum turnings from machine shops and fabrication facilities. The cutting oil on the aluminum turnings must be removed in order to process the aluminum turnings. This problem has plagued aluminum recycling facilities. Likewise, the paint on aluminum cans present a problem when recycling aluminum cans. European regulators have enacted “take back laws” which will require vehicle manufactures to take back vehicles after their useful life. In addition, the regulations will limit the amount of fluff that can be disposed of in a landfill. In accordance with the regulations, the percentage of fluff that can be land-filled will decrease over a time period.
The automotive industry, as well as the aluminum recycling industry, is in great need of a technology that can easily convert the fluff, cutting oil or paint to a useful feedstock or fuel while recovering a very clean metal stream for recycling.
Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
The production of electrical and electronic equipment is one of the fastest growing domains of manufacturing industry in the Western world. Both technological innovation and market expansion continue to accelerate the replacement process. New applications of electrical and electronic equipment are increasing significantly. There is hardly any part of life where electrical and electronic equipment are not used. This development leads to an important increase in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
The WEEE stream is a complex mixture of materials and components. In combination with the constant development of new materials and chemicals having environmental effects, this leads to increasing problems at the waste stage. The WEEE stream differs from the municipal waste stream for a number of reasons:                1. The rapid growth of WEEE is of concern. In 1998, in Europe, 6 million metric tons of waste from electrical and electronic equipment were generated (4% of the municipal waste stream). The volume of WEEE is expected to increase in Europe by at least 3-5% per annum. This means that in five years 16-28% more WEEE will be generated and in 12 years the amount will have doubled. The growth of WEEE is about three times higher than the growth of the average municipal waste.        2. Because of their hazardous content, electrical and electronic equipment cause major environmental problems during the waste management phase if not properly pre-treated. As more than 90% of WEEE is land-filled, incinerated or recovered without any pretreatment, a large proportion of various pollutants found in the municipal waste stream comes from WEEE.        3. The environmental burden due to the production of electrical and electronic products (“ecological baggage”) exceeds by far the environmental burden due to the production of materials constituting the other sub-streams of the municipal waste stream. As a consequence, enhanced recycling of WEEE should be a major factor in preserving resources, in particular energy.In view of the environmental problems related to the management of WEEE, European Member States began drafting national legislation in this area. The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Belgium and Italy have already presented legislation on this subject. Finland and Germany are expected to do so soon.        
For example, a semiconductor company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of semiconductor integrated circuits (“ICs”) and discrete devices will lists its package material in its products. Such semiconductor products can include MPEG-2 decoder ICs, Digital Set-Top Box ICs, special automotive ICs, MCV-based smartcard ICs and EPROM non-volatile memories and are also the second leading supplier of analog and mixed-signal ASSPs and ASICs, disk drive ICs and EEPROM memories.                1. Package materials—The material of the package can be:                    a. Plastic—The plastics used are mainly transfer-mold epoxy cresol novolac (ECN-Epoxy resin) or Polyurethanic resin for the modules. The filler of these resins is SiO2 (about 70%). The epoxy resins used will typically contain antimony trioxide (SbO2O3) and tetrabromobisphenol-A as flame retardants. After curing the tetrabromobisphenol-A is no longer free because it is incorporated into the epoxy polymer. The tables report the percentage of bromium in the epoxy polymer (about 1%) and the amount of antimony trioxide (about 2%).            b. Ceramic—The ceramic used for the RF transistors will typically be BeO and is alumina (Al2O3+SiO2) for the integrated circuits.            c. Metal—The materials used for the metallic packages are usually Alloy 42, nickel, iron and copper.            d. Glass—The glass of packages used will typically be Pb silicates. The glass is insoluble in water and in organic acids but can be etched by inorganic acids.                        2. Chip—The active part of each device is a silicon chip doped at atomic levels (some tens of ppb) with phosphorus, boron and arsenic. The back of the die can be raw or metallized mainly with thin layers of titanium, or gold, or nickel in order to enhance the die capacity to bond to the header or to the leadframe.        3. Metallic parts—The heat-spreaders and the lead frames of plastic packages can be composed of Alloy 42 or copper alloys. The copper alloys are a combination of copper with a small amount of alloying elements such as Ag, Co, Fe, Zn, P. Alloy 42 is an alloy of iron with 42% nickel.        4. Other—The inks (marking) used for metallic, plastic, glass or ceramic packages are most typically epoxy resins with dyes. The relevant pigments can be either inorganic (Fe, Zn) or organic dyes. However, ink marking going to be totally substituted by laser marking.The values given for each chemical element are believed to be accurate and reliable. It is possible to extrapolate approximate values for other packages of the same family using the proportionality criteria as reported here below.        
As previously stated, enhanced recycling of WEEE should be a major factor in preserving resources, in particular energy. The Electrical and Electronic Equipment Industry is in great need of an inexpensive and simple one step method or reactor which can convert the organics in WEEE to a useful chemical feedstock or feed while recovering valuable metals and simultaneously treating heavy metals. The present invention overcomes the obstacles inherent in treating WEEE by combining a comminution means and reaction means into a single reactor.
Particulate Matter 2.5 Microns (PM 2.5) (Smoke and Diesel Exhaust)
Diesel engines are the most efficient power plant among all known types of internal combustion engines. However, a drawback to diesel engines is its exhaust emissions. Although smoke and diesel exhaust emissions may be referred to as aerosols and/or solid waste, the two emissions are more commonly referred to as Particulate Matter (PM). The U.S. EPA's PM standards include two different size categories, PM 2.5 and PM 10. Particles in the air that are less than 2.5 microns in diameter are considered PM 2.5, and are generated primarily by combustion processes. Particles that are less than 10 microns in diameter are considered PM 10. The EPA established the PM 2.5 standard in July of 1997 in an effort to better protect the public's health. Particles of the 2.5-micron size are a health concern because they can bypass the body's natural filtering mechanisms and penetrate deep into the respiratory system.
Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM) is the most visible diesel pollutant due to the thick plumes of black smoke that appear at the tailpipe. DPM is a complex mix of solid and liquid matter and the main constituent is solid carbon, which is generated in the cylinder as a result of incomplete combustion. Under heavy load conditions, when the air/fuel mixture is too rich, the burning of the hydrogen element of hydrocarbons (HC) predominates, resulting in an excess of the unburned carbon element.
DPM is usually divided into three basic fractions. These are dry carbon/soot particle fraction, soluble organic fraction (SOF) and sulfuric acid particle fraction. The actual composition of DPM depends upon the type of engine, its operating conditions, and the speed and load. At higher RPM and load values, adsorbed acids and SOF proportions decrease as they combust or evaporate and become gas phase components.
The soluble organic fraction is primarily comprised of hydrocarbons and sulphates that become adsorbed onto the surfaces of the carbon spherules and agglomerated carbon particles. The components of SOF are generally acids, bases, paraffins, aromatics, oxygens, transitionals and insolubles.
In its decision of Feb. 27, 2001 the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the 1997 EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The court rejected arguments by industry, led by the American Trucking Association, that EPA acted unconstitutionally in issuing the standards. The industry groups also charged the EPA with failure to consider industry's costs for compliance when issuing health standards, but the court said no such cost-benefit requirement exists under the Clean Air Act.
In addition, major diesel manufactures have entered into a consent decree with the U.S. EPA for implementing 2004 PM 2.5 regulations no later than October 2002. An immediate solution is needed by the diesel manufacturing industry in order to meet the mandate set by the EPA.
Radioactive Wastes
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has estimated the total volume of DOE and commercial radioactive wastes and spent nuclear fuel through 1995 to be approximately 5.5 million cubic meters. Each year nuclear power generation facilities world-wide produce about 200,000 cubic meters of low and intermediate level waste and 10,000 cubic meters of high level waste (including spent fuel designated as waste). The disposal or final depositary for radioactive wastes is a major problem from both financial and environmental concerns.
Former nuclear weapons production sites face even more significant problems with radioactive waste management. The scale and scope of the cleanup at these sites is enormous; officials estimate that seventy-five years and $300 billion will be required to remediate cold-war nuclear weapon facilities,
Radioactive waste has been stored in large underground storage tanks at the DOE's Hanford Site since 1944. Approximately 54 million gallons of waste containing approximately 240,000 metric tons of processed chemicals and 340 million cuires of radionuclides are currently being stored in 177 tanks. These caustic wastes are in the form of liquids, slurries, salt-cakes, and sludge.
The highest cost activities anticipated at the Hanford Site are the retrieval and treatment of the waste in the high-level waste tanks to produce high-level waste canisters of glass and immobilized low-level waste. This activity is now being privatized in a two-phase approach. The first phase is underway, the second-phase contracts will be let in 2006, and completion of the waste processing activities is expected in 2028. The DOE has budgeted approximately $35.7 billion (U.S. dollars) for cleaning up Hanford's Tanks At Hanford alone, it is apparent and quite obvious that an inexpensive and timely solution exist for vitrifying high-level waste to produce canisters of glass for long term storage in a depository.
From the forgoing, it is evident that there exists a need to solve the numerous and high priority problems associated with solid, liquid and gas wastes. The use of a plasma torch for solving wastes problems is considered a very high-tech solution. For a high-tech solution such as a plasma device or method to be widely accepted, it must be simple, cost-effective and available as a modular unit as opposed to applications requiring unique designs with onsite fabrication and construction. It is desirable that the portable plasma reactor have a small footprint, yet be capable of processing a variety of wastes in the form of liquids, slurries, salt-cakes, sludges, particulate matter, solids and gases at high flow-rates.
It is also preferred that the method or apparatus combine a comminuting means with an ionized gas reaction means within the same reactor in order to save energy, time and space. Ordinarily, wave energy technologies, such as plasmas, do not combine the comminution stage with the reaction stage, which reaction state is typically a combustion, incineration, reforming, cracking, pyrolysis and/or gasification stage. Likewise, it is not typical to combine the reaction stage with the separation stage.
Furthermore, combining the comminution stage, reaction stage and separation stage is completely atypical for plasma processes and apparatuses. Moreover, the utilization of plasma to generate angular momentum for kinetic energy comminution and reaction means is distinctive and unobvious from traditional kinetic energy communition such as a jet mill.
As a rule, jet mills will utilize compressed air and/or steam as the potential energy source for converting stored energy into kinetic energy by means of fluid expansion via a decrease in pressure. Likewise, the compressed air and steam are typically produced in a separate and distinct stage from the kinetic energy or jet mill stage. Usually, an air compressor or boiler is utilized to produce the kinetic energy fluid. Other applications may utilize flue gas exhaust, engine exhaust or any compressed fluid source. Thus, in typical kinetic energy mills, the only means of increasing energy to the jet mill for increasing comminution or particle flow to the jet mill is to increase the flow-rate or pressure of the kinetic energy fluid. Likewise, traditional jet mills typically do not use an incompressible fluid such as water.
The present invention meets all of the aforementioned criteria while minimizing stages. Likewise, the present invention can utilize an incompressible fluid for comminuting and reacting means by converting the liquid to a gas and then to a plasma within the kinetic energy mill.